


Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

by IsaWritings



Category: Glee
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-19 02:33:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3593061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IsaWritings/pseuds/IsaWritings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt fill: Blaine has Epilepsy and his seizures are caused by stress. Blaine has a seizure in the middle of Cooper's masterclass.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind

**Author's Note:**

> This work was written as a reaction to prompt #231 of the Blangst Prompt of the Day page on Tumblr. 
> 
> I'm not sure if this needs a warning (plus it's kind of obvious considering what the prompt is), but I'm going to add one anyway, just in case:  
> Trigger warning: seizures because of epilepsy!
> 
> As for the medical side of this story: I don't know much about epilepsy, except what I looked up about it. I did some research before I wrote this and I did check what I had written afterwards. But that doesn't mean this story is accurate since everything I found was all theory. So I'm sorry if the medical side isn't entirely correct. I hope you'll enjoy the story anyway.
> 
> The story takes place during 'Big Brother' (episode 3.15) and is partly AU.
> 
> So enjoy!

**Out of sight, out of mind.**

He had forgotten. He had forgotten how it was. How sudden, how unexpected. How utterly terrifying.

He had forgotten how scared he had been the very first time, all those years ago, when five-year-old Blaine had suddenly dropped to the ground and had started convulsing.

But now, twelve years later, he remembered.

* * *

Cooper was sitting in the living room, doing his homework and watching his annoying little brother, who – for some reason – couldn't resist climbing on whichever piece of furniture was nearest to him. The eldest Anderson was fifteen, in his opinion, too old to babysit. Fortunately, their mother had said she wouldn't stay away for too long – “Half an hour at most, I promise.” – so Cooper had reluctantly agreed. But that had been almost an hour ago. As usual, their father wasn't at home, though even if he had been, he wouldn't have bothered watching his youngest son anyway. He was always “too busy”. So now Cooper was, once again, on keep-Blainey-away-from-potentially-dangerous-furniture duty. Which had proven to be a very intensive and time-consuming task for the first half hour, until Cooper had had enough and had yelled at the rambunctious child. In response, the latter had sulked for about ten minutes before finding something more interesting to do. Cooper would've felt a lot worse about shouting at his little brother if this scenario didn't play out just about every time he had to babysit, and he knew Blaine never stayed angry for long.

Thinking about it, Cooper realised how quiet it had become. Too quiet, in fact. He looked up from his text book. Blaine was still sitting on the floor in the middle of the living room. Ten minutes ago, he had started playing with Cooper's old action figures, making the dolls talk to each other. But now, the dolls lay on the floor next to him, and Blaine himself was just sitting there, staring at nothing. Which was very unusual for the boy.

“Blaine?” Cooper stood up and walked towards him. “Are you okay, squirt? Is there something wrong?”

No reaction. Blaine just sat still. Cooper waved a hand in front of his face.

“Hello? Earth to Blaine?”

All of a sudden, the small body tensed up and the boy fell back.

“Blaine?” Cooper asked, alarmed.

He watched in shock as, not long after, Blaine's body began to convulse violently.

“Blaine!”

He knelt next to the boy, although he had no idea what exactly he was supposed to do. He had never seen a seizure before, except on TV. But this was so much scarier. As the teenager watched his little brother's face go red, instinct kicked in, telling him to take off Blaine's bow tie and to open the top buttons of his shirt. Blaine was still shaking uncontrollably. Now what? If only his mum had been at home, she'd know what to do. Maybe he should call her. Or maybe he should call for an ambulance instead. He jumped up and sprinted to the table. Dialling 911, he ran back to Blaine.

“Hello, this is Westerville General. What is your emergency?”

“It's my little brother,” Cooper answered frantically. “He just started convulsing all of a sudden and my parents aren't at home and I don't know what to do!”

“First of all, I need you to calm down. How old is your brother?”

“He's five.”

Cooper tried his best to control his emotions, but, watching Blaine, it wasn't that easy.

“How long has he been convulsing?”

“I don't know. Two minutes? Maybe three.”

“Okay. Is he breathing?”

“What? I don't know.”

“Can you check?”

Cooper did as he was asked.

“He's breathing.”

“Good. An ambulance is on its way. It will be there in about five minutes,” the woman on the phone reassured him.

“Okay.”

“In the meantime, I want you to keep checking whether he's breathing. Is he still seizing?”

“Yes. Is that normal?”

“It's not abnormal. Now, when he stops, I need you to make sure his airway is clear and to measure his heart rate. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“Good. If the ambulance isn't there yet by then, you have to roll him onto his side in a recovering position. Do you know what that is?”

Cooper had to think about that. He knew he had heard that somewhere before.

“Is it like they do in those shows on TV? Knees tucked up and his head on his arm?”

“Yes. Very well remembered,” the nurse praised him. Before she could go on, Cooper interrupted her.

“I think it's stopped. But he's still, like, shivering. Is he cold? Does he need a blanket?”

“No, honey, that's just from exertion. You know, it's like when you play sports and you push yourself too far.”

“Oh.”

Remembering her previous instructions, Cooper checked Blaine's breathing again and his pulse, although he couldn't exactly tell if something was wrong. Just that it may be faster than normal. But with Blaine and his never-ending energy, you never knew. He rolled the small body on its side in what he thought was the right position and picked the phone back up from the floor, keeping one hand on Blaine's back.

“Now what?”

The woman told him to wait for the ambulance, which could arrive at any moment, and to give his parents a call. He was still trying to reach his mother when the doorbell rang. He stood up to open the door for the paramedics, unable to deny how relieved he was to see them.

“He's over there” He pointed to the living room, looking back to where Blaine was lying on the ground.

Immediately, one of them set her bag down and knelt next to Blaine, while the other one started questioning Cooper.

“How old is he?”

“Five,” he answered automatically.

“Has this happened before?”

“No. Is he okay?”

“My partner is assessing his condition right now. How long did the seizure last?”

The questions kept coming. Although he tried not to show it, Cooper was freaking out. He just wanted them to tell him Blaine was alright, that what had happened wasn't his fault because he had yelled at the boy. He wanted his mum to come home to deal with this. Most of all, he wanted Blaine to open his eyes and jump up saying he had tricked them all.

Then the voice of the other paramedic broke through his thoughts.

“Blaine? Can you hear me? Can you open your eyes for me, honey?”

Her question was followed by an unintelligible mumble.

“Well done, Blaine.”

“Mum?” it sounded weakly through the living room. Cooper wanted to go to him, but the man standing next to him stopped him.

“It's better not to overwhelm him right now,” he muttered.

The woman who was examining Blaine explained his mother wasn't at home, but reassured him right after that she'd be there soon. The quiet conversation between the boy and the paramedic continued for a minute. Cooper was listening intently, but he could only understand the woman's questions, not the answers Blaine gave her. However, his initial panic returned full-force when Blaine's eyes closed once again. The paramedic was quick to assure him that that was normal, that the boy was just sleeping, before going to his partner to discuss their options.

Just when it was decided they would take Blaine to the hospital, the boys' mother stormed in, frantic from seeing an ambulance in their driveway.

“Cooper? Blaine?”

Her gaze first fell on Cooper, then on the paramedics and eventually on her youngest son.

“Blaine!”

“Ma'am,” the male paramedic stood up again. “I suggest you calm down. Your son had a seizure, but he's okay now. We're taking him to the hospital to do some tests, to find out what's caused this.”

Paula Anderson nodded, still staring at her youngest son with wide eyes.

After that, everything went fast and slow at the same time. The ride to the hospital didn't really register in Cooper's mind. The hours of waiting for Blaine to wake up did, though, as well as Cooper's lingering feelings of guilt, despite the fact that everyone assured him none of this had been his fault.

“Actually,” the male paramedic comforted him, “you did an admirably good job taking care of your little brother.”

But that didn't take away the fact he had yelled at Blaine only twenty minutes before his seizure.

Eventually the doctors determined Blaine had epilepsy. He was given medication to suppress the seizures, although there were still a few scares before the medicine started taking effect. And over time, Cooper learned to accept he hadn't done anything wrong that first time.

* * *

“Can't you just support me?”

Cooper decided to ignore the way Blaine uncertainly looked down. Instead, he continued his master class as if he hadn't noticed Blaine's hurt expression, giving pointers to Tina on how to act dead. He did notice when Blaine seemed to zone out, but reckoned he was just figuring out how to improve his acting. Or he was mad at Cooper for having been put on the spot in front of his friends and was sulking. Oh well, Blaine never stayed cross for long anyway.

He hadn't recognised the signs. It had been too long since the last time he had been there to experience this himself. That specific knowledge had been pushed to the back of his mind while he had been away to pursue his career.

Until he saw from the corner of his eye how Blaine's body tensed up, just like all those years ago.

O-oh.

Cooper turned to him just in time to see his brother's eyes roll away and to catch him as he fell backwards. Instinct, basic training and years of experience took over after the initial shock wore off. He heard the teenagers around him shouting through each other as he lay Blaine down and placed his jacket under his head. He had just finished loosening the buttons of his shirt when the convulsions started. The volume of the cacophonous screaming increased exponentially.

“Shut up!” he yelled, making himself heard above them. “Screaming like that is not going to help.”

That shut them all up.

“Thank you. Now move back, give him some room.”

He proceeded to check Blaine's breathing and his pulse, sitting next to the boy's head to avoid the flailing limbs.

One minute had already passed. He heard Kurt explain to the rest of the group that Blaine was epileptic, but paid no real attention to it. This time, Cooper knew it was his own fault. He had pushed Blaine too far. Over the years, the youngest Anderson had had the occasional epileptic fit, usually when he was stressed, like during or after exam periods. But this time, the cause wasn't exam stress, but Cooper-induced stress.

Two minutes, still breathing and a pulse that was rather quick.

Eventually, the jerky movements died down. Cooper looked at his watch again before rolling the unconscious teenager on his side with the help of Kurt. He sat back on his heels as they waited for Blaine to wake up, keeping a hand on Blaine's shoulder and, in the meantime, discreetly casting a glance at the boy's trousers. Luck had been with them, there was only a very small spot there and it was hardly visible on his dark jeans.

“He has a change of clothes in his locker,” Kurt muttered next to him, also having noticed the stain. “Shall I go get it?”

Cooper shook his head.

“No, he'll be embarrassed if the others find out. I'll do it at home. You can barely see it anyway.”

Kurt nodded.

A few minutes passed before Blaine finally stirred.

“Blainey?” Cooper immediately asked quietly. “Can you hear me?”

“... Coop?” he mumbled before opening his eyes to slits and groaning.

“Welcome back.” The actor smiled softly. “You had a seizure, but you're okay now.”

“Long...?”

“A bit over two minutes. How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” Blaine's eyes fell shut again, but Cooper tapped his cheek to regain his attention.

“I know, but stay awake a bit longer, okay? You can sleep in a minute, I promise.”

He continued asking Blaine some basic questions, like he had been taught, assessing his condition.

“Okay, well done, squirt. You can sleep now.”

“Thanks,” Blaine sighed, closing his eyes contentedly.

“I'm going to take him home,” Cooper announced to the staring group while he picked his brother up from the floor, earning a small groan from the limp boy in his arms. Kurt quickly draped the actor's jacket over his boyfriend, hiding the wet spot effectively. 

As he was sitting in a chair in Blaine's bedroom, watching him sleep, Cooper swore silently to make it up to the teenager, to explain why he acted the way he did towards him. Although he knew he couldn't stop the seizures from happening, he vowed he would never be the cause of one again.

**The end.**

 


End file.
